This holiday season, Kelly Pratt and Ian Kreidich, the St. Louis–based
husband-and-wife duo behind the prevalent photography project Dancers and
Dogs, have collaborated with Saint Louis Ballet and Stray Rescue of St. Louis
for the second year in a row for what they have affectionally termed “The
Muttcracker.”
“The Muttcracker” pairs up Saint Louis Ballet dancers and adoptable dogs/cats
from Stray Rescue hoping for furever homes. The altruistic series
showcases the dancers in costumes from the Nutcracker – yes, even the Rat King!
– beside lovable dogs and cats.
The goal of “The Muttcracker” is to have all the rescue animals shown
adopted. Dancers & Dogs posts a different ballerina in a
different pose with shelter dogs or cats each day on their Facebook page. In choosing
which pets would get their moment in the spotlight, Stray Rescue decided to share
animals that already had social media visibility and other hopeful pets that
have had a harder time finding their new forever homes. As of 11/23/19, nine
of the featured rescue dogs in this year’s photos have been adopted!
Released November 19, 2019, Dancers and Dogs is a book containing
over 200 pages of photographs, their favorite behind-the-scenes stories about
the project and some of the featured dancers and dogs. A portion of the
book’s proceeds will go locally to Stray Rescue, those interested in
purchasing the book can buy a copy here.
You can also go see “The Nutcracker” with the Saint Louis Ballet Nov. 29-Dec. 1
and Dec. 18-23.